Column: South suburban food pantries expect influx of need after Trump's SNAP cuts

Chicago Tribune

2 days ago

Food pantry operators in the south suburbs are expecting to see more people seeking help due to massive federal funding cuts and changes in the nation's biggest food assistance program that were part of President Donald Trump's mega spending and tax cut law.
'That's definitely going to hurt people, especially people with children that depend on that help,' said Beth Heinrich, director of Elsie's Pantry, which is based out of Savior Divine Lutheran Church in Palos Hills. 'We will most likely get more clients.'
Clientele has spiked at the pantry in the years since the pandemic and as consumers have struggled with higher prices for food, gas and other necessities. Before the pandemic, the pantry served about 60 to 70 families a week. It now typically serves roughly between 120 and 140 people each week, during most of the year, Heinrich said. The pantry is open from 2 to 4 p.m. Thursdays.
Since it was founded 25 years ago, the pantry has served more than 150,000 people, and this year for the first time it ran out of food one week in June and had to close early, said Heinrich. She said she is committed to doing all she can to make sure that never happens again.
Oak Forest-based VKMI Hattie B. Williams Food Pantry, which had initially been open one day a week, added a second day in 2022 and a third day last year due to increased need, said Annie Hill, who runs the pantry with the help of volunteers.
'Our parking lot is usually really full,' she said last week. 'This past week I think we averaged about 300 families in the three days we were open.'
What's typically bringing people in?
'There's not enough money to pay monthly bills and buy food and then there's also people that lost their jobs,' she said. 'We've seen people affected by cuts with government jobs.'
She added she's also seen more people visiting making inquiries at the pantry.
'We're seeing now a lot of people driving to the pantry out of fear of losing their SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits,' she said. 'They are seeking out a place that they can come and get what they need in the event that they do lose their SNAP benefits.'
The bill President Trump signed last month, cuts $187 billion from SNAP — the biggest cut in the program's history — and expands work requirements for SNAP beneficiaries. Currently, adults up to age 54 without disabilities and dependents are required to work, volunteer or attend training for 80 hours monthly to apply for and keep the food aid. Under the new law, adults ages 55 through 64 will also have to meet those requirements. The law also shifts significant portions of the costs to the states. If they can't make up the difference, states will have to resort to making cuts in the SNAP program such as by restricting eligibility or making it harder for people to enroll, or they could opt out of the program entirely, terminating food assistance entirely in their state. That is according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The Center says 4 million adults, children, seniors, veterans and people with disabilities nationally will see food assistance terminated or substantially reduced.
More than 1.9 million Illinois residents use SNAP benefits. The cuts in the law and requirements put food benefits for an estimated 360,000 Illinoisans at risk, according to a statement Gov. J.B. Pritzker's office released last month.
The law's cost shifting mandate potentially could cost Illinois more than $700 million, and administrative burdens could cost the state another $100 million.
Due to the SNAP changes, 'I think you will see a dramatic increase as far as having more people coming out to the pantry,' said Sam Latson, who helps run the food pantry at Living Grace Church in Lynwood.
The pantry served about 2,000 people last year, and up until recent months had been averaging around 200 clients a month. It is now averaging around 150 a month. Latson said the decline is due to a drop off in the number of Hispanic people seeking help.
'Hispanics are afraid to come out, evidently because of fears of ICE,' he said, referencing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's unprecedented crackdown on undocumented immigrants around the country this year.
But amid the changes in SNAP, he still expects overall numbers at the Lynwood pantry to rise.
One in five Chicago area households are already experiencing food insecurity, and that's now expected to worsen, says Man-Yee Lee, a spokesperson for The Greater Chicago Food Depository, which supplies area pantries with food.
'This is our worst nightmare,' she said of the SNAP cuts and changes. 'This will cause food insecurity to skyrocket.'
In fiscal year 2024, the Food Depository and its partner network distributed more than 121.3 million pounds of food across Cook County, and it served approximately 2.4 million households, said Lee.
'Fiscal year 2024 was a record year for us,' said Lee. 'We distributed more food than we ever have in our 46-year history, even surpassing numbers at the height of the pandemic.'
Among recipients of that food is Aubrey Lewandowski. Since the Palos Hills resident was laid off from her job as an operations manager at Amazon, she started working about 30 hours a week delivering food for DoorDash, Uber Eats and Instacart. But she has had to rely on food stamps to help feed her children, ages, 4, 9, 11 and 13. She said she has to also regularly seek help from Elsie's Pantry and St. Blase Pantry in Summit. She has worried about how the SNAP cuts and changes law could affect her benefits.
The benefits are 'extremely important,' she said 'With four kids growing, obviously they do eat a lot. Without that, I wouldn't be able to cover all the food.'
She said the pantry assistance is also very important.
Pantries are concerned about how they will be able to meet the anticipated growing need for help, said Lee, who stressed that emergency food systems and charities were never meant to and can't solve hunger alone, which is why SNAP is vital.
'We recognize our work just became that much more difficult,' she said.
But people at the Food Depository have been doing what they can to prepare by stepping up fundraising efforts and through a food Rescue program. That program saves good food from being wasted by connecting food retailers with nearby food pantries and programs in its network. It rescued 15% more food last year than it did the previous year, Lee said.
Pantry operators say they will continue doing all that's in their power to tackle food insecurity.
'We've survived for 25 years through everything else, through the pandemic,' said Heinrich. 'We will do what we can with what we have.'
Those who want to help to support the emergency food system can do so volunteering at their local pantry, donating and by helping to advocate for anti-hunger policies via social media or though the Food Depository's advocacy action center at chicagosfoodbank.org/advocate for easy to follow actions to help, Lee said.
If you or someone you know needs food assistance throughout the year or if you would like to provide support through donations or volunteering, here are contacts for more information:
Greater Chicago Food Depository, www.chicagosfoodbank.org, 773-247-3663
Elsie's Pantry, 708-598-4435, saviordivine.org/elsies-pantry.html
Living Grace Church in Lynwood, www.living-grace.org, 708-895-5690
VKMI Hattie B. Williams Food Pantry in Oak Forest, [e-mail], Annie Hill, 708-927-4561